Christmas tree on square card

The challenge over at Humbug Hall is a Christmas tree and Hazel's challenge is a square card so I thought I'd combine the two. So a square linen base card with papers from Scrap Girls matted onto gold mirri with a red organza ribbon underneath. The tree is a downloaded image that I cut out and glittered and mounted with silicone glue.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is More sketch

This week's challenge at Less is More is a sketch and a nice simple one at that. This is a favourite of mine as anyone who has read my blog will testify to, as I do like something to start me off. We were down in a very sunny Portsmouth for the weekend and that delayed me slightly in creating a card.
In the end I produced 2 cards which I was reasonably happy with.



On the first card I printed the floral background onto the card and then printed extra so that I could decoupage the flower. The ribbon is from a mixed pack of vintage ribbon that has just arrived from Create & Craft and which happened to match beautifully! I printed the sentiment onto the ribbon with my xyron and a few pearls and a feather completed the card.

   On the 2nd card I stamped 2 flourishes at the bottom  in archival brown ink and the lady is an image I'm not sure from where.  I used it a couple of years ago to make a stamp from it with Imagepac   and it was quite successful and that was also stamped in brown and then glittered with bronze glitter. The strip across the middle I distressed with the same ink and added some ribbon.   The sentiment is from one of the cd boxes of stamps.
Thanks for looking :)

                                

Visitors

Wow I've just had my 1000th visitor, how exciting is that! Well maybe not for anyone else but it amazes me the far flung places that people visit from and leave lovely comments :))

Less is More Masculine

MASCULINE? OMG what next!!! I'm absolutely staggered every week, not only by the standard of entries to Less is More challenges but by the speed that they are posted! There am I, having a cup of tea with James Martin, and some crafters have been up for hours and already have their entries displayed :)))
Well after some head scratching I came up with the following card but as I was about to post it I decided I wasn't sure about the angle. So I did the same again with a variation on the embellishment and I'd appreciate some feedback please :)
The stamps are from Stamp Addicts and inked with black Brilliance. Both embellishments are embossed.

Thanks for looking :)  
                                               
p.s in answer to Chrissie's query I masked the head so that the music was behind.

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/

Metallics

This week's challenge at Humbug Hall is metallics and the theme is seasonal silver at Hazel's blog so I thought I'd combine the two. Apologies now for the quality of my photo but Picasa is playing up!!
I used a red pearlescent base card and made my metal embellishments using Debbi Moore's Metal Magic and a free stamp from Craft Stamper and a Jenny Mayes small one. I'm not good with metal sheets, although I've only tried with one type but I just kept cutting myself!!!
I used peeloffs and some gems for decoration and wrapped acetate around the card and finished with ribbon and a bow.    Thanks for looking :)

Boy's and Girl's come out to play...

This week's  challenge over at Do It With Digi's is Boy's and Girl's come out to play and I decided to use a lovely vintage digi stamp that I got from Paulette at TLC. I made a twisted easel fold and covered it in some Anna Griffin paper in soft green stripes. I coloured the image with brilliance inks and a water pen and cut it out so I could mount it both in and out of the frame. The frame was distressed with Shabby Shutters as was the strip of ruched ribbon. The sentiment is also from TLC and says Best Friends.
Thanks for looking :)

Spring

Gill's current challenge is Spring and we are having a brilliant spring day today. Glorious blue sky, 14 degrees and all the trees are flowering!
I used an A5 base card and matted it with Anna Griffin paper. The image is from Sheena Douglass stamped and embossed in white and coloured with promarkers. The strip across the middle is a Martha Stewart punch with ivory organza ribbon on top. The flowers are using the same ribbon and following Sue Wilson's demo this morning. It was so easy and I love them, there will be ribbon flowers on everything now ! I used a few pearls for decoration.
Thanks for looking :)

Another award :))

I've been given a new award from Gill for being a regular follower of her blog. If any of you watch Create and Craft you will have seen several of her beautiful cards that she produces for Sheena Douglass and Debbi Moore.
I'm hoping to receive one of Gill's cards as I was drawn from the cup of chance on one of Debbi's shows last week!! I'm also taking part in Gill's Tartan blog hop on April 6th which I'm excited about :)
        So please check out Gill's blog and get some inspiration.

Now the condition of this award is to post it on your blog and link it back to me (the sender) then pass this onto to those people who are  following me and who leave regular comments - so here is my list:

Caroline:

http://kiss-keepitsweetsimple.blogspot.com/

Yvonne

http://meggysway.blogspot.com/

Sylvie

http://colledgeangel.blogspot.com/

Janie

http://janiescreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Fiona
http://madeinamuddle.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone who has left me such lovely comments in the last 6       months!!            

An award from Jacki

I was thrilled to learn that Jacki has chosen me to receive Gill's new creative blog award. Obviously there are conditions attached and these are they:

1. Post the award and link it back to my blog                        
2. Post 5 of your greatest achievements
3.Pay it forward to 3 other well deserving bloggers 


So please visit Jacki's very creative blog here---here

Now for the difficult bit, 5 of my greatest achievements! I think random facts were easier!

1. I'm still married to the same man 40 years on!
2. I have 2 wonderful sons that I am very proud of.
3. At 26 I bought my Hairdressing salon.
4. At 42 I changed direction and became a college lecturer.
5. Getting amazing feedback from other crafters on my blog and making friends on the way!

Now for the best bit introducing you to some very creative ladies I've come across recently, mainly through the Less is More challenges :))

1. Viv------http://daizy-mae-designs.blogspot.com/
2. Sue------http://suelesley.blogspot.com/
3. Squirrel--http://squirrel10.blogspot.com/

Apertures and Starlight Starbright.

This week's challenge at Humbug Hall is apertures and as I don't have any blanks I had to cut one! I also wanted to incorporate the design to fit with Die Cut Dreams challenge which is Starlight Starbright.
I created the text on my Craft Artist and printed it out on to red card which I then cut and mounted onto an A5 white base card. I cut out the centre of the O in Noel and created a little vignette behind on the inside of the base card. I used Jenny Mayes Christmas scene stamps and coloured with distress inks. The snowman I cut and mounted on the front of the card to give some dimension. I stamped the star with a glue pad and glittered with irridescent powder.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is More off the page

Tried several ideas this week for the LIM challenge but they all seemed to case other people's cards! I eventually decided to use a DL card and a large digital stamp printed on the bottom. The image is normally about 5" square. I can't remember where I got it from but it was a freebie! I then stamped a butterfly above the daisies. I like this stamp as it is so plain and looks lovely when painted.  I had a sentiment that I wanted to use but couldn't find the right place to put it as it looked wrong printed in a square. Then I had a brainwave (at least I thought so ) and used my Craft Artist to print the words out in a curve to fit around my stamps. I coloured the flowers with Brilliance Aurora, which is pearlised, and just some watered down aqua for the butterfly.
Hope you like it, thanks for looking :)

Just found out that One Stop Craft challenge is a CAS card so I'm entering my card there as well.

Mardi Gras

I've just found Gill's challenges and decided to post a quick entry before it's too late. As the theme is Mardi Gras I decided to use a fan template from Debbi Moore's cd.  That's when I  found out that my printer was telling me the truth when it said it was low on ink!!! So I then chose to use some of the lovely papers in Debbi's magazine to make a fan and mounted it on black mirri. I embossed a corner in silver mirri because it resembles a mask (upside down!) and a silver oval which I decorated with feathers and gems. I was just about to post it and then saw that the challenge was to use purple gold and green! That'll teach me not to read things properly! So I used green mirri and a gold butterfly for highlights and hope this is enough to cover the brief :)
Thanks for looking :

A new blog award

Today I found out that I have been given a new blog award from Gill. Thanks so much to Gill for bringing attention to my blog, she is very creative and produces some amazing cards for very well known crafters that we get to see on Create and Craft!!! I am a follower and please check out the blog candy she is giving away.

Now I have to tell you 7 things about myself and tell you about some new blogs that I have come across recently.

1.  I love Thai food.
2.  My first award was Best Brownie of the year 1957 and I still have the bracelet!
3.  My craft room is tiny, 7' x 3'.
4.  I love my I pod.
5.  I am reading " The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". Very good!
6.  Looking forward to 2 weeks in South of France in May.
7.  I take my camera everywhere and use my photos in digital scrapbooking and Smilebox.

Now for the amazing bloggers that have inspired me recently, please visit them and see their beautiful creations:

Mandi-    http://enchantedoccasions.blogspot.com/
Chrissie-  http://simply-one-of-a-kind.blogspot.com/
Jan-         http://janlovetocraft.blogspot.com/
Bonnie-   http://bon2stamp.blogspot.com/
Sylvie-     http://colledgeangel.blogspot.com/
Anne-      http://stampsandpaper.blogspot.com/
Kate-      http://sporadicstamper.blogspot.com/
Sue-        http://particraft.blogspot.com/

Bah humbug

This week's challenge at Humbug Towers is embossing, it's also Hazel's challenge as well and Die Cut Dreams is a song. I have tried to cover all three challenges with my card which is something new for me! The song is "Let it snow".
The base card I embossed with a snowflake folder and the nestie negative frame I embossed with dots to look like snow.
The stamp is from Le Blanche and embossed with versamark and silver EP. I added a little glitter on the snow and on the embossing on the base card. The snowflake is a very old freebie from Craft Stamper stamped twice and attached with a silver brad. It's difficult to get a good photo with the silver and glitter as it glares.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is More (pastels)

The challenge this week over at Less is More is pastels. I've attempted at least 3 cards and failed dismally :(
Not sure why I couldn't do it but all my ideas went in the bin!
 Then I was inspired by Chrissie's card on her blog and got out a rollagraph that I bought about 3 years ago at a craft show and never used!!
I inked up with Brilliance Peacock and created a mat with the same ink.  The butterflies I cut off from the leftovers and glittered them. A couple of pearls for the flowers and the sentiment is from my Xyron digital printer.
I'm quite happy with the result now and hope you like it too :))

StampARTic sketch

The challenge for March at StampARTic is a sketch and I quite like having something to follow!
I's a bit difficult to see the base card but it is printed in random squares in very muted shades of pink and yellow.
The torn card is distressed with Tattered Rose, Shabby Shutters and Frayed Burlap and the branch is from Creative Expressions and stamped with Frayed Burlap. I used a tiny stamp to create foliage and blossom. The two central images are from Stamp Addicts Da Vinci stamps and the butterfly is this month's  freebie from Craft Stamper. The rose and candy I made from stamped images and the leaves were punched. The sentiment is from Jenny Mayes.
Thanks for looking :)
My previous post is a card made from a tutorial on StampARTic

Classic Elegance

The challenge this week over at The Shabby Tea Room is classic elegance using black, red and white. I decided to use a fold that I found on the StampARTic blog which has some amazing tutorials and go for black as the main colour. I matted white card on the inside and stamped with a freebie from Craft Stamper and the sentiment is from my digital Xyron printer. I used a floral silhouette stamp with white stazon and overstamped with cranberry and highlighted with white glitter. The front I punched  a strip of red card with MS daisy punch and stamped dragonflies and used pearls to decorate.The other front I mounted on white card and stamped a butterfly, glittered and cut it out and mounted it on the red card.
Thanks for looking :)